Electric- welding-tongs



H. F. KUNTZMANN.

ELECTRIC WELDING TONGS- APPLICATION man Nov. 26.191a.

Patented sept. 21919.

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HENRY F. KUNTZMANN, OF BRQKLYN, NEW YORK.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Sept. 29 i919.

Application led November 26. 1918. Serial No, 264,171..

To all when@ 'it may concern lle it known that l. llamar F. KUXTZ- Amongthe objects of the invention is to provide a pair ot welding tongshaving metallic portions adapted to serve best for electrical purposes7and also havingr jaws peculiarly shaped with respect to the work or wireto be held` and for the best manipulation b v the operator according toWhether lle is ri ght handed or lett handed.

,l `further object of the invention is to provide a pair ofclectricweldinp; tongs the metallic portions ot which are so made as tobe not only cheap and easv of construction, but strong in' practice andhaving handle portions pecnliarlvcovered to protect `the operator troniheat and electric shock.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists inthe ,arrange nient and combination ot parts hereinafter described andclaimed, and whih` the invention is not restricted to thc exact detailsof construction disclosed or suggested herein,

still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thoreot`reference is yhad to the accompanying' drawings, in which like referencecharacters designate the saine parts in the several views, and in which-Figure l is -a plan View of the principal parts of my tongs indicatingthe position thereof in practice; and Y Fig. 2 is an edge view o thesaine looking from the right in Fig. 1. f I

IReferring now more particularly to the drawings, l show a pair of tongscomprising upper and lower blade' members 1,0 and 11 made preferablyfrom flat bar metal and pivoted together at 152-.

Each blade member comprises a Hat porn tion 13 bearing directly againsta similar portion ot' the other blade adjacent to theA pivot, theseportions meeting in a horizontal planeV perpendicular to the pivot.'Outd ward fromv the fiat portions 123 are formed two jaws 1l and 15 thepoints ot' which are or may be substantially liat while the parts 1obetween the points of the jaws and the flat portions 13 are bentspirallj,v so that the flat points of the jaws occupy vertical. planesor planes coinciding with the axis of the pivot. As plainl)Y shown,these spirals 16 are left handed in a pair of tongs made for a righthanded operator. that is to say each jaw is twisted to the lett orcounter-clock- Wise with respect to the tlat portion 13 which may beheld in a vise for this purpose. Since the'jaws are both bent in thesaine direction they cooperate closelgvv together all the way from thepivot to the points ot the jaws. and thereby a very small wire orotherarticle may be gripped between them reliably. i. t

In the practice of this tool a piece of wire YV is gripped between thejaws and being so held is brought down into Contact with the metal to bewelded so as to establish a circuit through the tongs and wire and thereafter the active point of the wire is held at a short-distance from thejoint being welded. The merit of an electric weld depends largely uponthe steadiness with which the point of the wire. is maintained or heldfrom the work. and hence the operator inust not onlyY be skilful inknowing; and watching his worin-but alsohe must be assisted as much aspossible in the character of the tools with which he operates. Thetongs, therefore. are held substantially in a horizontal plane and belowthe level of the operatorls eyes. For this purpose his hand grasping thetongs reaches around and beneath the handles` the palm of the handbearingagainst the right side of the lower handle while the fingersenibracerthe lett edge or side of the upper handle in the mostconvenient 'position for gripping the handles. lilith the hand in thisposition the thumb may lie anywhere alongr the upper handle and so be inposition to bea-r laterally or toward the left against the right edge otthe upper-'handle whereby while the lower handle is held steady in thepalm of the hand the nppcrhandle will be swunrr to the lett causing thej aws to op'en and releascthe wire when desired.

Real-ward jtrom the pivot 12 and fiat portionsv 13 the handles divergeJr'roln each other at 17 so that thefmctallic portions ot' :he nlainhandles lie in spaced parallel horizontal planes as indicated at 1S;,The space be-` 1i ti tween these planes is suiicient to accommodate anySuitable protecting covering tor the handles. For this purpose I employfor each handle a layer or coating 1t) or asbestos or some othersuitable insulating and heat resisting material. This layer or coating,-of asbestos is held in place by means of a bindingrr strip Q in thenature of tire tape or the like Wrapped around the same from one end ofthe protected portion of the handle to the other. rThe tire tape serves,therefore, not

nly to hold the asbestos pad in place, but in itseit constitutes anexcellent surtacii'ip; material tor a hand grip.

lhe inner end of one of the'blades, preferably the lower blade l1, isprovided with a downwardly projecting heel 21 having` a hole 21 throughwhich the conductor 22 is anchored t0 the tongs through a connector 23and a bolt or rivet 24 passing' through the hole 21. This heel portionis deiected downward in a plane at Ian angle of about forty degrees tothe plane of the blade 1l and so the conductor 22 is held to the tongsin a most convenient position. If desired an elastic strap or band 25vmay be passed around the inner ends of the handles the tendency ofwhich is to assist in holding` the j aivs gripping the Wire therebyrelieving the operator-s hand in proportion to t-he strength or' theelastic.

While I show and describe a pair ot tongs designed especially for aright handed Operator, it will be understood that for a left handedWelder the spiral portions of the will be bent in the opposite directionfrom those indicated, and hence the upper handle will be movable towardthe right by the operators thumb instead of to the left as shown inorder to release the article held by the jaws.

While I do not Wish to be unnecessarily limited as to the materialsemployed in the manufacture of these tongs I have found that copper iswell adapted for the purpose et making' the blades for several reasons:

First, it is a goed conductor of electricity,

and, secondly, it is suii'iciently soft. and mallcable to enable theoperator to readily bend or shape the active portions of the jaws at anytime to contorni to a piece ot' wire or device to be held irrespectiveof its size or shape. Even though the jaws may be made of copper thetool as a whole is su'tliciently stiff and strongbecause of the tlatmetal structure to meet all ordinary requirements.

'My tongs, in addition to their use for electric welding, may be usedalso to goed advantage for electric carbon cutting or carbon welding oimetals.

2. In a pair of electric welding tongs com.

prising tivo blade members formed ot' tlat metal stock, a pivotconnecting` the blades, the portions of the blades adjacent to the pivotbeing flat and directly in. contact with each other while the handleportions of the blades are spaced from each other, a paddingofinsulating` material surrounding each handle, means wrapped around theinsulating material to hohl the same in place, and means to attach aconductor to one of the handles.

3. A pair ot tongs of the class set Vforth comprising tivo handlemembers and means pivoting them together, a padding' ot' asbestossurrounding each handle, means surrounding the asbestos to hold the samein place and provide a hand grip, means extending through and beyond oneoli the handle coverings for the attachment oi a conductor, and anelastic member surrounding the handles and tending to close the jaws etthe tongs.

HENRY F. KUNTZMANN.

